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Hello!

this weekend, the ‘Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’ aka – 2000AD, celebrated its 40th anniversary. It was first published waaaay back in 1977.

Although I’m not a die-hard fan, I’ve always read it. 2000AD had and has ‘edge’. The characters it has introduced have stood the test of time. Dredd, Nemesis, Rogue Trooper… The list goes on. This comic shaped my writing and creations ever since it came into my life.

The comic’s publishers, Rebellion, organised a day event in the Novotel hotel in Hammersmith. As part of The Awesome Comic podcast, Vince, Tony and myself were tasked with covering the event. As you read this, the show should have gone live. Have a listen to it by clicking this link.

It was such a fantastic event. Fans were able to to speak directly to their favourite creators, purchase original artwork from the comic and quiz them on the various progs.

I spent a large part of the day looking at artwork artists had brought along, like these spreads from Prog. 2000 by art-droid Chris Weston. The dude is a beast. The photo i’ve taken does not do it justice. Each page looks ike was printed as opposed to done by hand. Even though a lot of my comic is done digitally, I doff my cap to the skill and craftsmanship involved in making these pages. Amazing stuff.

During the day, there were a number of talks and demonstrations, from a ‘live drawing’ on an overhead screen to a screening of a brand new Strontium Dog fan-film, ‘Search and Destroy‘.

By far the best talk of the day was the one with Pat Mills. Hosted by my other host from the ACP, the mighty Tony Esmonds, it was informative and fun. I could listen to Pat Mills talk comics all damn day.

I managed to speak to Pat, his wife Lisa and their friends briefly about VANGUARD during the evening. I pitched the comic better than I ever had done so before and it went to down pretty well. As the group said our goodbyes, Pat shook my hand and said: ‘Good luck with Vanguard’. Obviously, I then floated home with a massive grin on my face.

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Hello again!

There was a recent wave of artist friends of mine purchasing Figma figures in an effort to improve their drawing skills on poses, etc. I saw the bandwagon rolling by and leapt aboard with reckless abandon. I popped onto Ebay and bought two figures. A male and a female.

I got both at a decent price and the shipping from China was quoted at two months, but to my surprise, it took just over two weeks. Sadly, the toe section of the ladies left foot has gone missing, but suspecting these figures aren’t ‘legit’, I let that slide. To be honest, it doesn’t really affect and poses I’d be making. The figures are relatively robust, but I’d advise against too much rough housing.

I’d literally taken a commission the day before the figures turned up, so thought it’s be a good opportunity to put them through their paces. I set the figure up in a variety of poses and put it to the person who commissioned the picture to decide on the one to use. They chose the following:

Once that was decided, I drew from the photo as reference. The following is an image with the red lines dropped to black and darkened.

and then went onto inks.

Scanned and 3D element dropped in.

Final version.

Summing up:

Overall, I found drawing using the model handy. While I won’t be using it for absolutely every panel/page/pin-up I do, it certainly has it’s benefits. One didn’t foresee is the being able to use it for light/shadow reference. The muscular sculpt on the model really pays off here. It’s definitely something I will use in future.

My only complaint/warning is that if one were to use this all of the time, there’s a risk that poses/actions will start to look too static and not fluid.

If you’re looking to invest in an artistic tool, you can’t go too wrong with these. The full scale/’proper’ figures will set you back a fair old sum though, so you’ll have to consider if it’s worth investing in.

Any questions on how I got on with this, please ask below and I’ll endeavour to answer 🙂

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Hello you!

It’s Christmastime. The time to spread good cheer and shower people with gifts… and here is my gift to you!

I’ll be drawing a high-res, full colour commission WITH background for the lucky winner. The winner may do what they wish with the image (use for promo, print, sell, etc.), all I ask is that they pop me a credit when you use it.

Below is the list of the characters we received. Simply cast your vote for which character I should draw. The one with the most votes wins!

Dan

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Hello you!

It’s Christmastime. The time to spread good cheer and shower people with gifts… and here is my gift to you!

I’m offering up a high-res, full colour commission WITH background to one lucky person. The only caveat is that it has to be of an original comic character of YOUR creation. You may do what you wish with the image (use for promo, print, sell, etc.) , just pop me a credit when you use it.

Here is a selection of pin-ups I’ve done previously to whet your appetite.

HOW TO ENTER:

Simply reply to this post with an image of the character you’d like to enter into the competition, along with their name. To have your character considered for the draw, you must have posted a reply/image in this thread by: THURSDAY 8th OF DECEMBER

On Monday the 12th of December, I shall post a poll of all the characters entered into the 1st round and will draw the commission the of character with the most votes.